So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
(Keep calm, keeping it calm, keeping it calm)
(Keep calm, keeping it calm, keeping it calm)
(Keeping it calm)
(Fuck, here we go again)
Heat lighting flash, but don't blink
Misleading
Tranquility ruse
You're gonna happen again
That's what I think
Follow the evidence
Look it dead in the eye
You are darkness
Trying to lull us in, before the havoc begins
Into a dubious state of serenity
Acting all surprised when you're caught in the lie
We know better
It's not unlike you
It's not unlike you
We know your nature
Blame it all on the bastards when you're blowing out
Shame on you
Shame on you, now
No amount of wind could to begin to cover up your petulant stench and demeanor
Calm as cookies and cream, so it seems
We're not buying your dubious state of serenity
Acting all surprised when you're caught in the lie
We know better
It's not unlike you
It's not unlike you
We know your nature
Calm before the torrent comes
Calm before the torrent comes
Calm before the torrent comes
Calm before the tempest comes to reign all over
Disputing intentions invites devastation
A tempest must be true to its nature
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
Control, your delusion
Insane and striking at random
Victim of your certainty
And therefore your doubt's not an option
Blameless, the tempest will be just that
So try as you may, feeble, your attempt to atone
Your words to erase all the damage cannot
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
(Keep calm, keeping it calm, keeping it calm)
(Keeping it calm)
(Fuck, here we go again)
Heat lighting flash, but don't blink
Misleading
Tranquility ruse
You're gonna happen again
That's what I think
Follow the evidence
Look it dead in the eye
You are darkness
Trying to lull us in, before the havoc begins
Into a dubious state of serenity
Acting all surprised when you're caught in the lie
We know better
It's not unlike you
It's not unlike you
We know your nature
Blame it all on the bastards when you're blowing out
Shame on you
Shame on you, now
No amount of wind could to begin to cover up your petulant stench and demeanor
Calm as cookies and cream, so it seems
We're not buying your dubious state of serenity
Acting all surprised when you're caught in the lie
We know better
It's not unlike you
It's not unlike you
We know your nature
Calm before the torrent comes
Calm before the torrent comes
Calm before the torrent comes
Calm before the tempest comes to reign all over
Disputing intentions invites devastation
A tempest must be true to its nature
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
Control, your delusion
Insane and striking at random
Victim of your certainty
And therefore your doubt's not an option
Blameless, the tempest will be just that
So try as you may, feeble, your attempt to atone
Your words to erase all the damage cannot
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
A tempest must be just that
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
7empest Lyrics as written by Daniel Carey Adam Jones
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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To me this song, the more I think on it, is horrific. I ruminated on this one for awhile and then just focused on the strict definition of the word tempest. With tempest understood as a great, powerful, and devastating force of nature many of the phrases I was confused with made sense.
Nature is brutal. I can look at the night sky and wonder at the serenity of it all, the peace, the tranquility, but left alone in the vacuum of space I wouldn't last long. Nature is violent. The Earth is riddled with a history of natural catastrophes responsible for the many extinction-level events that have wiped countless species of life from the planet.
Personifying nature is such a human thing and brilliantly managed in the lyrics. Almost coy, one can envisage Mother Nature with tongue in cheek after the disaster of the hurricane leaves once beautiful landscapes and the security of a home in complete ruins...as if she were caught in the 'lie' of offering submission to our feeble attempts at subduing her.
Our ruin, though, cannot fully be blamed on the nature of cyclical extinction. We argue, out of arrogance and ignorance, over (Nature's) intentions, for example, deciphering the 'evidence' of a warming planet as a response to our polluting behaviors, a natural part of a climate not static, or some mixture of both. None of this matters. We need to start thinking about what to do in light of an impending tempest...it's coming...we know its true nature...to destroy and make room for the next 'bastard'.